[Congressional Bills 116th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[S. 1990 Introduced in Senate (IS)]

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116th CONGRESS
  1st Session
                                S. 1990

 To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide additional authority 
       to the Office of Special Counsel, and for other purposes.


_______________________________________________________________________


                   IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES

                             June 26, 2019

Mr. Blumenthal introduced the following bill; which was read twice and 
referred to the Committee on Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs

_______________________________________________________________________

                                 A BILL


 
 To amend title 5, United States Code, to provide additional authority 
       to the Office of Special Counsel, and for other purposes.

    Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the 
United States of America in Congress assembled,

SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.

    This Act may be cited as the ``Presidential Appointee 
Accountability Act of 2019''.

SEC. 2. OFFICE OF SPECIAL COUNSEL.

    Section 1215 of title 5, United States Code, is amended--
            (1) in subsection (a)(3)--
                    (A) in subparagraph (A), in the matter preceding 
                clause (i), by striking ``A final'' and inserting 
                ``Except as provided in subparagraph (C), a final''; 
                and
                    (B) by adding at the end the following:
            ``(C) In a case brought under paragraph (1) involving 
        disciplinary action against an employee in a confidential, 
        policy-making, policy-determining, or policy-advocating 
        position appointed by the President, by and with the advice and 
        consent of the Senate (other than an individual in the Foreign 
        Service of the United States or an employee serving in a 
        position at level I of the Executive Schedule under section 
        5312), a final order of the Board--
                    ``(i) may impose an assessment of a civil penalty 
                in an amount that is not more than $10,000 for each 
                violation committed by the employee; and
                    ``(ii) may not impose any other disciplinary 
                action.''; and
            (2) by striking subsection (b) and inserting the following:
    ``(b)(1) In this subsection, the term `covered individual'--
            ``(A) means an employee in a confidential, policy-making, 
        policy-determining, or policy-advocating position appointed by 
        the President, by and with the advice and consent of the Senate 
        (other than an individual in the Foreign Service of the United 
        States); and
            ``(B) includes an employee serving in a position at level I 
        of the Executive Schedule under section 5312.
    ``(2) If the Special Counsel determines under subsection (a) that 
disciplinary action should be taken against a covered individual--
            ``(A) the Special Counsel shall prepare a written complaint 
        against the employee containing the determination of the 
        Special Counsel, which--
                    ``(i) shall include--
                            ``(I) a written statement of supporting 
                        facts; and
                            ``(II) the recommendation of the Special 
                        Counsel regarding the specific disciplinary 
                        action that should be taken against the covered 
                        individual; and
                    ``(ii) the Special Counsel shall present to the 
                President and make publicly available; and
            ``(B) not later than 30 days after the date on which the 
        President receives the complaint submitted under subparagraph 
        (A), the President shall--
                    ``(i) submit to the Special Counsel a written 
                response that contains--
                            ``(I) an explanation of whether the 
                        President is taking the disciplinary action 
                        against the covered individual recommended by 
                        the Special Counsel under subparagraph 
                        (A)(i)(II); and
                            ``(II) if the President is not taking the 
                        action described in subclause (I), the reason 
                        that the President is not taking that action; 
                        and
                    ``(ii) make the response required under clause (i) 
                publicly available.
    ``(3) With respect to a covered individual who is an employee in a 
confidential, policy-making, policy-determining, or policy-advocating 
position appointed by the President, by and with the advice and consent 
of the Senate (other than an individual in the Foreign Service of the 
United States or an employee serving in a position at level I of the 
Executive Schedule under section 5312), the action required under this 
subsection with respect to the individual shall be in addition to any 
action required under subsection (a) with respect to the individual.''.
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